Heretofore in the display of fishing rods with a reel mounted thereon in stores, sport shops or hardware outlets, there has long existed the problem of people tampering with a fishing rod assembly, such as removing and taking the reel, removing and taking merely the reel handle or the reel and clip hardware. These items are constantly being removed from rods and reels and are a real problem to store managers. Eventually the item is returned to the supplier as defective.